D.C.'s Water and Sewer Authority put out a warning this month that unsolicited tap water testing kits were being left at the doors of residents in at least one neighborhood. Those who filled the plastic bottle provided received a follow-up call from a telemarketer looking to sell a $2,000 reverse-osmosis water treatment system. According to the Examiner, the telemarketer claimed that the water tested high for chlorine or lead.
Want to know why this ticks me off? The company, which does not supply a name or contact information, is exploiting resident's well-founded concerns about their drinking water to sell a product. Not only that, but acceptable under-sink reverse osmosis systems are available for a tenth of that price!
But an anonymous commenter on the Examiner article claimed to be involved with the company behind the scam, and said it was no scam at all:
we are a private owned company that is world wide and has been in business for over 65 years. And for your information we do test the water for impurities and contaminents. what the city and state admit to people is the water is "within federal standards" but fail to state that the chlorine put in the water to kill germs is just as harmful to ones health as everything else in the city water.
Well, maybe not just as harmful; after all, chlorine and chloramines are added to the water to kill potentially deadly pathogens. But they do produce toxic byproducts, the health effects of which are in some instances not well known. Other byproducts are classified by the EPA as possible human carcinogens.
WASA was quick to point out that D.C.'s public water "is in full compliance with federal Safe Drinking Water Act regulations for health and safety," but when EWG had water samples from across the city tested this spring, "More than 40 percent of the tap water samples contained chemical byproducts of water treatment above annual federal health limits." WASA also recommends that you call them if you're concerned about your water. I second that. Call them, please.
The bottom line: a scam is a scam, and any time you're exploiting people's fears to sell something... as far as I'm concerned, that's a scam. But D.C.'s water leaves a lot to be desired, and EWG recommends carbon filtering the water (with a pitcher or faucet-mount filter) before drinking it.